Lion Na Bearnai and Andrew Thornton (right) clears the last alongside Four Commanders© Photo Healy Racing
Fifty to one shot Lion Na Bearnai left punters with a puzzle which they may never figure out when springing one of the surprises of the season, providing jockey Andrew Thornton with a career highlight when taking the Grade 2 Irish Form Book Ten Up Novice Chase at Navan today,.
The ten year old gelding raced prominently before Thornton asked the gelding for his effort from the second last. The son of New Frontier (whose Betfair SP was 204/1) did eventually come out on top of a tremendous three way tussle on the run-in to defeat both Four Commanders and Start Me Up
Afterwards winning trainer Thomas Gibney revealed “we hoped in a small field, we would pop around and get our entry money back! He was meant to run in a 0-109 handicap at Fairyhouse but they did away with the chases and he came here with an eye to running in a handicap at the next meeting!
“I cant’believe it! He hadn’t run since December 1 and we just wanted to get a run into him.”
Winning jockey Thornton, 30, also added “that’s my biggest win. I’m riding professionally five years now and it’s absolutely brilliant to ride my first Grade 2 winner at my local track. The plan was to make the running but they were going plenty quick enough. He got under the final fence but he really stuck his neck out at the line.”
